Friday, July 17, 2015

Meeting celebrity Chef RanVeer
Brar of Masterchef fame was an excitement of another level. It was a meeting
discussion, exploring some of his recipes and his valuable insights and tips.
To see him cooking just in front of us was very exciting. Actually he does not
look very photogenic on the TV or in photographs but in reality he is very
handsome, lighter in complexion and looks much younger. On screen he appears to
be somewhat rude and while talking he looks as he is chewing the words. Believe
me it was fake on the show. I found him full of life, gentle, soft spoken, well
behaved. He was aware of the fact as others that ladies talk too much but we
kept calm while listening to him. During his cooking he showed some of the delectable
blue berry dishes using fresh, succulent or dried blueberries. He demonstrated
how to give a twist to typical Indian recipes by using blueberries.I am sharing with you all these mouth watering recipes.

It's me with Ranveer

GRILLED CHICKEN WITH SCALLION SPINACH & BLUEBERRY CHUTNEY

SERVES: 2 NO

COOKING TIME: 20 MINUTES

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken breast boneless halves 4 No

Fresh mint, chopped 2 tbsp

Fresh yogurt 2 tbsp

Fresh young ginger finely chopped 1 tbsp

Fresh thyme finely chopped 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Ground black pepper ½ tsp

Olive oil1 tbsp

FOR SPINACH

Fresh baby spinach ½ bunch

Scallion, white and green part separately, chopped 4

Nigella seeds 1 tsp

Lemon zest, only yellow part ¼ tsp

Olive oil 1 teaspoon

FOR BLUEBERRY CHUTNEY

Fresh/ frozen/ dry blueberries 2 cups

(if it’s dry then soaked in water for 3 hrs)

Golden raisins 1/3 cup

Brown sugar 1/3 cup

Onion, chopped 1 medium

Cider vinegar/ white wine vinegar 3 tbsp

Fresh young ginger, peeled, grated 1 ½ tbsp

Worcestershire sauce ½ tbsp

Ground cinnamon¼ tsp

Salt to taste

Red chili flakes ½ tsp

GARNISH

Fresh tomato, quarter 1 no.

Salt to taste

Fresh black pepper sprinkle

Olive oil just to drizzle

METHOD:

Pre heat oven at 150 0C

Blueberry chutney: Heat olive oil in a heavy bottom sauce pan and sauté chopped onion and ginger until aroma comes out on medium flame. Add other ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes on medium low flame or until thick, stirring occasionally.

For chicken: Marinate chicken and olive oil, salt, thyme, mint, ginger and black pepper for 6-7 hours. Preferably overnight, keep into refrigerator. Heat a large grill pan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken 2 minutes on each side to seal its juices and then cook in preheated oven for IO to I2 minutes or until done.

For spinach: heat olive oil, sauté white part of onion and nigella seeds for minute on medium flame. Add spinach and sauté until it turns soft for another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and add green part of the scallion and lemon zest, stir and keep aside.

For garnish: Cut fresh tomato into quarter. Drizzle olive oil, sprinkle seasoning and grill on the same pan where chicken was cooked. Remove and keep aside.

In service plate arrange scallion spinach on top of it place chicken, pour blueberry chutney and garnish with grilled tomato quarter. Serve immediately.

BLUEBERRY WAFFLE WITH BLUEBERRY SRIKHAND

SERVES: 4 N0

PREPARATION TIME: 10 MINUTES

COOKING TIME: 7 - 10 MINUTES

FOR BLUEBERRY WAFFLE

INGREDIENTS:

Fresh / frozen blueberries 1 cup

Eggs 2 No

Baking powder 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Sugar 1 tsp

Vanilla extract few drops

All-purpose flour 1 cup

Whole wheat flour 1 cup

Unsalted butter4 tbsp

Buttermilk 2 cups

METHOD:

In large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk the buttermilk, egg yolks and butter, stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in blueberries. In a small bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form, fold into batter. Bake in a preheated waffle machine for 7 to 10 minutes until golden brown. Remove and serve immediately with blueberry srikhand.

FOR BLUEBERRY SRIKHAND

SERVES: 4 N0

PREPARATION TIME: 3 HOURS

COOKING TIME: 5 MINUTES

INGREDIENTS:

Fresh/ frozen blueberries 1 cup

Curd 1 kgs

Powdered sugar ¼ cups

Vanilla extracts few drops

FOR THE GARNISH

Fresh/ frozen blueberries ¼ cup

METHOD

Hang the curds in a muslin cloth in a cool place for approximately 3 hours until all the liquid (whey) has drained off. Mix together the hung curds, sugar, ¾ parts of blueberries in a bowl and churn using a hand blender. Now add remaining blueberries and fold into mixture evenly. Serve immediately.

BLUEBERRY PARFAIT

SERVES: 4 NO

PREPARATION TIME: 10 MINUTES

INGREDIENTS:

Fresh frozen blueberries

Greek/ plain yogurt chilled 2 cups

Mini dark chocolate chips (optional) 2 tbsp

Oat granola ½ cups

Walnuts, chopped 2 tbsp

Fresh mint leaves for garnish 10 -12

METHOD:

Arrange each spoonful of blueberries into each of parfait glass, then add spoonful of Greek yogurt, followed by oats granola and 1 tablespoon of chocolate chips and chopped walnuts.

Add another layer of the berries, yogurt, chocolates, walnuts and granola to each glass, garnish with fresh mint leaves and some blueberries. Serve immediately.